Archives for November, 2008
Enemies of Reason Episode 1
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2008 The rest are below the fold.
Blorgospherics
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2008 Solve the mystery of the Swimming Spaghetti Monster. Evolution of Resistance from Darwin Today on Vimeo. (more here) The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c A Colbert Christmas: Toby Keith Sings Colbert at ChristmasColbert Christmas DVD Green ScreenBill O’Reilly Interview from here and here Interested in Research on and in (and of) the Blogosphere?…
Coleman’s New Strategy
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2008 The word on the street is that Colleman recount watchers have shifted strategy in order to increase an apparent lead over Al Franken. It seems that many of the Coleman people are challenging perfectly good Al Franken ballots in order to make the miniscule Coleman lead appear to grow, possibly allowing Coleman to have Yet…
Good Morning. Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the US or at US Embassies abroad.
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2008 A word of advice: TAKE THE TURKEY OUT OF THE FREEZER NOW! Here is a Thanksgiving Joke for you.
Franco Sacchi: Welcome to Nollywood
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 Browsing Browsers
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 With Firefox undergoing the usual late-life evolution towards uselessness (…it was great while it lasted, Firefox, but you’ve become Windozed…) it is time to start paying attention to other browsers. So here’s two very very interesting bits of browser news. Lunascape is a new browser that is Java based but remarkably has not been developed…
Disable your laptop with a text message.
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 I’m very unhappy with Lenovo because they exploited us, then dropped us, and now the lie to us (us = Linux users). So Lenovo can kiss my ass. But this is cool: Lenovo is using text messaging to add an additional layer of security to the company’s line of ThinkPad notebooks. Starting in 2009, Lenovo…
Fedora Ubuntuized
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 Fedora, the version of Red Hat Linux that you can have because you’re a person, has come out with a version (version 10) that seems meant to be easier to install and set up, designed apparently for the Ubuntu-user kinda person. It has Gnome as its default desktop. Get it here. Don’t worry, there’s a…
Near Earth Object Telescope Comes On Line
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 The first of four new asteroid-tracking telescopes will come online next month in Hawaii, promising to quickly scan large swaths of the sky–thanks to the world’s largest digital camera. The project, known as the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), aims to scan the entire sky visible from the summit of Mount Haleakala…
Should we clone a Neanderthal. Or maybe two?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 Personally, I think we should start with a dodo, and then work our way up the ethical ladder from there. … We know roughly how the sequence of life ran forward in time. What about running it backward? … Last week in Nature, scientists reported major progress in sequencing the genome of woolly mammoths. [see…
Please step AWAY from the cold cuts …
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 Unless you have retained a lawyer… McDonalds has applied for patent WO2006068865, which carries the title ‘METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SANDWICH.’ John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, can eat his heart out … given that it only mentions generic sandwich making ‘tool(s),’ rather than any specific machine, it might not survive after…
We haven’t seen RD in a while
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 He mentions the Enemies of Reason. Oh heck, I might as well post that as well. Starting tomorrow.
Minnesota Senate Recount Information
Posted by Greg Laden on November 26, 2008 Another local blogger, Jeff Rosenberg, is following the recount and providing his own analysis. Here.
Pre Thanksgiving Weekend List Of Blorgs To Lurg
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 First, the recipes. Most of these are mine, but not all. Making Stock How To Make Gravy Savory Squash Ravioli and Ravioli Update A good way to cook a turkey Grandma’s Cranberry Relish The Best and the Hottest This video will make you hungry and possibly nostalgic A little theory: Plants can help you. They…
The Minnesota Senate Recount: Reversal of Fortune
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 With 80.6 percent of the vote recounted, the known difference between Coleman and Franken has for the first time grown greater than the audited and adjusted original count differenct of 215. The difference is now, by my rekoning, a whopping 238. This, by Norm Coleman’s standards, is a virtual landslide!!! But that number is fairly…
California to investigate Mormon Prop 8 donations
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 The California Fair Political Practices Commission said it wants to determine if the Church accurately described its role in the battle over Proposition 8. The Commission’s executive director, Roman Porter, said the investigation follows a complaint by Californians Against Hate which accuses the Mormon Church of failing to report the value of work it did…
Bad Talking Ads!!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 Have you seen the latest iPod ad, on this site, that tells you you’ve won an iPhone? Got a problem with ads speak when not spoken to? Click HERE to complain! The Blog Herders are aware and presumably doing something about it, but a nice public outcry is always helpful.
Gods Ways are not Our Ways
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 Which means, ulimately, that you are going to hell no matter what you do. But in the mean time, have fun with this, totally stolen from PZ and the Science Pundit
When Gay Sheiks Go Bad
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 The Sheik “did not have sufficient education to understand he cannot whip other people like a dog” argued the lawyer of Sheik Falah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, accused of belt-whipping an American from Rochester, NY York who refused the sexual advances of the brother of the head of the United Arab Emirates. In…
Modeling Complex Adaptive Systems
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 Congo Rights Abuses
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 All sides in eastern DR Congo have committed serious human rights abuses, the UN secretary general has said. Ban Ki-moon said both government forces and rebels loyal to Gen Laurent Nkunda had carried out arbitrary executions, mass killings, rape and torture. The report covers July to November, when the most recent fighting flared. In a…
Bush’s Latest Pardons
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 The new round of White House pardons are Bush’s first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property. The whole list is here.
Michele Bachmann as The Antichrist
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 And a bonus (also from Heads Up)
Peter Schiff vs. Ben Stein
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 This is a MUST SEE video. It starts with Arthur Laffer, the Regeanomic Yahoo looking like a moron. Then we move on to some other guys who look like utter fools … Then, Ben Stein totally sticks his foot in it. Ben Stein’s Famous Last Words, one year ago: “Stocks will be a lot higher…
Minnesota Senate Recount: Numbers Settle In
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 The numbers are now settling in for the Coleman-Franken Senate race recount for Minnesota. With 74.2% of the votes counted, it is now possible to make a reasonably good prediction of the outcome of the current recount, not counting challenged ballots or other changes. The following graph shows the change across time for each day…
Charles Elachi: The story of the Mars Rovers
Posted by Greg Laden on November 25, 2008 SciFi and Sexy Science
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 We science bloggers are being asked: “What do you see as science fiction’s role in promoting science, if any?” I would like to suggest two different angles to address this question, one that everyone will agree with and appreciate, the other that will enrage most of you and cause you to drive me into the…
Cool Map
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 Courtesy of Elle.
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! Its a toolbox!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 … ah, no, actually, it’s just a meteor. But caught on video! And a more detailed report: So, so many science fiction stories start exactly like this….
World is 6K old, Obama = Terrorist, Texans = Morons
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 Sorry, Texans, but as long as you keep doing this, the rest of the world is going to keep making jokes that are not so funny about you. Please get your acts together and fix this, OK? Enjoy this commentary by David Newman in the Austin American Statesman: Power has attracted some strange and disturbing…
, which is now available for the 
